basic paragraph

8/6/2019 Basic Paragraph

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BASIC PARAGRAPHBASIC PARAGRAPH

STRUCTURESTRUCTURE


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The three principal parts of aparagraph:

1. topic sentence

2. body sentences

3. concluding sentence


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The Topic Sentence

A topic sentence usually comes at

the beginning of a paragraph. Not

only is a topic sentence the first

sentence of a paragraph, but , more

importantly, it is the most generalsentence in a paragraph.


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For example:My hometown is famous for

several amazing natural features.

First, it is noted for the WheatonRiver, which is very wide and

beautiful. Also, on the other side

of the town is Wheaton Hill, which

is unusual because it is very steep.


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(Notice how the first sentencebegins with My hometown... a

few spaces to the right of theparagraph edge. This is an

indentation. All paragraphs in

English MUST begin with anindentation.)


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Here are some examples of sentences that

cannot be used as topic sentences. Can youfigure out why they are inappropriate?

1. My hometown is famous because it islocated by Wheaton River, which is very

wide, and because it is built near an

unusually steep hill called Wheaton Hill.


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2. There are two reasons why some peoplelike to buy cars with automatic

transmission and two reasons why others

like cars with manual transmission.

3. Clouds are white.


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We can rewrite sentences 2 and 3 in the

following ways to make it better:

- There are two reasons why some people like

to buy cars with automatic transmission.

OR (in a different paragraph):

- There are two reasons why some people like

cars with manual transmission.

- The shapes of clouds are determined by

various factors.


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Supporting Sentences

My hometown is famous for several

amazing natural features. First, it is noted

for the Wheaton River, which is very wide

and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the

town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual

because it is very steep.


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The second and third sentences arecalled supporting sentences. They are

called supporting because they

support, or explain, the ideaexpressed in the topic sentence. Of

course, paragraphs in English often

have more than two supporting

ideas.


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The paragraph above is actually avery short paragraph.Atminimum, you should have at

least five to seven sentences inyour paragraph. Here we can seeour paragraph about Wheaton with a

few more supporting sentences in

bold font.


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My hometown is famous for several amazingnatural features. First, it is noted for theWheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful.

Also, on the other side of the town is WheatonHill, which is unusual because it is very steep.The third amazing feature is the Big OldTree.This tree stands two hundred feet

tall and is probably about six hundredyears old.


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The Concluding Sentence- In formal paragraphs you will

sometimes see a sentence at the end

of the paragraph which summarizesthe information that has been

presented. This is the concluding

sentence.


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My hometown is famous for several amazingnatural features. First, it is noted for the WheatonRiver, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on theother side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which isunusual because it is very steep. The thirdamazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This treestands two hundred feet tall and is probably aboutsix hundred years old.These three landmarks

are truly amazing and make my hometowna famous place.


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Details in ParagraphsDetails in Paragraphs

The short paragraph in this lesson is a

fairly complete paragraph, but it lacks

details.whenever possible, you should include

enough details in your paragraphs to help

your reader understand exactly what youare writing about.


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My hometown is famous for several amazing

natural features. First, it is noted for theWheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful.On either side of this river, which is 175feet wide, are many willow trees which

have long branches that can movegracefully in the wind. In the autumn theleaves of these trees fall and cover theriver banks like golden snow.Also, on the

other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which isunusual because it is very steep.


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Even though it is steep, climbing this hill is

not dangerous, because there are somefirm rocks along the sides that can be used

as stairs.There are no trees around this hill,

so it stands clearly against the sky and canbe seen from many miles away. The third

amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree

stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about

six hundred years old. These three landmarks aretruly amazing and make my hometown a famous

place.


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A Note on Formality.A Note on Formality.

In formal essays, you should not use

contractions such as dont or arent.

Instead, you should write out the words in

full, for example, do not and are not.

Too Informal (Donot use!)

Acceptable

Dont Do not

Doesnt Does not

Cant Cannot

Wont Will not


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Writing Practice Exercise #Writing Practice Exercise #11

Please read the instructions for each partof the exercise, do the exercise, and then

e-mail your work to me at

[email protected] so that I cancheck your work.

Write one topic sentence for each of the

following topics: Your hometown

A place you would like to travel to


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THIS IS ALL FOR TODAY,HAVE A

NICE WEEKEND!!!

PRESENTED BY:

Aj. Geraldine Daray-Pugoy

basic paragraph

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